Ryanair boss sends blunt warning to passengers ahead of expected airport chaos this summer
Summertime flyers had better be organised if they want to successfully board a Ryanair plane.
As airport security wait times triple thanks to the newly phased-in Entry Exit Systems (EES), the travel company's CEO, Michael O'Leary, has pledged a sense of impatience towards those who risk missing their flights.
First introduced back in October 2025, this digital time-waster requires non-EU citizens to register their fingerprint and get their picture taken when entering one of the 29 countries in the Schengen Area (a border-free travel zone across Europe, involving nations like France, Greece, the Netherlands and Germany, and excluding UK residents, obviously).
Appearing on The Travel Expert, a podcast put together by The Telegraph, O'Leary challenged anyone wanting aircraft to wait for them if they're held up at the kiosks.
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"We will not wait for anybody," he declared. "Our priority is to those passengers who are at the boarding gate when boarding starts.
"If you're not at the boarding gate when we finish boarding, the plane is going without you."
Annoyingly, the European Commission's president Ursula von der Leyen chose not to suspend EES throughout the summer, even though hundreds of passengers have missed their flights in recent months.
Those left stranded have been forced to spend tonnes of cash on replacement accommodation and flight tickets - all untouchable to travel insurance firms.
Responding to von der Leyen's 'regrettable' ruling, O'Leary went on to share via the podcast: "We're not delaying our flights for people who are stuck in passport control queues.
"They have to show up at the airport earlier [and] be at the boarding gate, otherwise they're not flying."
It should be known, though, that border control officers do hold the authority to pause EES checks during particularly crazy periods of business.
And yet maybe the whole 'turn up super-early' process is pointless, because many travellers have highlighted how bag drop zones usually only open two hours before scheduled departure...
This comes as budget airline Ryanair continues to answer for a recent disaster that never was: on 10 July, a passenger named Ljubiša Karović, who was flying from Greece to Germany, was dangerously close to getting sucked out of a 'dislodged' cabin window.
This left him suspended head-first out of the aircraft, seriously injuring the 61-year-old.
Chief financial officer Neil Sorahan claimed the firm is 'very happy' with the safety standards of their fleet and insisted they 'operate at the highest standards of European aviation regulations'.
Bookings with Ryanair are apparently still 'very strong' in the aftermath, as he added: "We have a relatively young fleet and are very pleased with safety and maintenance within Ryanair group.
"There [have been] literally hundreds of millions of flights on these [Boeing 737] aircraft globally since they first came into being. They are probably the safest aircraft ever built, they are highly maintained and we have very well-trained crew."
Dan Seddon